Abstract

The chemical state of Ge in gate stacks and electrical property correlations are investigated to understand their capacitance scaling potential. We obtained gate stacks with low interface state density and a small capacitance equivalent oxide thickness (CET) of by nitridation of Ge (100) and atomic layer deposition of . The nitrogen content of the affects both the crystalline structure of the overlying and Ge diffusion into the . Introduction of Ge impurity by forming gas anneal coincided with the formation of a higher- phase, consistent with CET reduction.

Received 12 February 2009Accepted 10 March 2009Published online 04 May 2009

Acknowledgments:

This work was supported by the Stanford Initiative for Nanoscale Materials and Processes, and the MSD Focus Center Research Program. Portions of the research were carried out at Stanford Nanofabrication Facility and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. We acknowledge Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. for supplying the remote plasma source. The TEM image was provided by Evans Analytical Group (Dr. M. Izquierdo and Dr. D. Susnitzky).